Boys killed by train

Trains Magazine General Discussion
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2 Boys Killed When Train Hits Car

Two boys were killed, and their mother, father and brother were critically injured Saturday evening when the car they were in was hit by a train at a Greenwood railroad crossing.

The crash happened at the crossing on Stone’s Crossing Road, just west of Indiana 135, near Center Grove High School, 6News’ Ben Morriston reported.

Jim Engmark, a battalion chief with the White River Township Fire Department, said the mother, father and third boy were transported to Methodist Hospital in critical condition.

Engmark said the train had about 59 cars and four locomotives. The train’s engineer was taken to a Johnson County hospital with chest pain.

The railroad crossing was not equipped with a crossing gate. Witnesses told the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department that the car did not stop at the crossing, Morriston reported.

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This is the Indiana Rail Road (old Illinois Central line).

Of course, this is terrible, but if you go to the Indianapolis Star website (Indystar.com) today and read reaction to the story, there’s folks calling for the trains to “slow down”. When will people get it?

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I went to the Indianapolis Star’s web site and I read this story. And then I posted a comment of my own. I basically told them that anyone who is familiar with the Operation Lifesaver program would know that you should expect a train at any crossing at any time! I further pointed out that to expect any train to slow down for grade crossings is just sheer stupidity, given that the laws of physics will not permit that to happen…and what I basically was implying is that depending on the length of a train, plus it’s overall weight, it can continue to roll several thousand feet even after the brakes have been applied in an emergency situation.

I did not use my real name in identifying myself in my post with the Indianapolis Star, I simply used CANADIANPACIFIC2816, and the strange thing is that they pegged me as living in Denver, Colorado!! Now try figuring that out! That’s weird!

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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When something like that happens, it effects EVERYBODY!

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Bravo!

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I don’t know that they ever will. If the train was going 5mph and a car still drove out in front of it and got hit people will still be killed. Speed isn’t the problem. Motorists that like to beat the train are. I am not sure that happened here, however. It could have been a case of just missing the railroad signs, similar to running through a stop sign by accident. It is a devastating event, either way.

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2 Boys Killed When Train Hits Car

2 Boys Die As Car Drives In Path Of Train

I wish they’d word these descriptions properly when writing such a story.

As in “a car drove in front of a train” instead of “a train hit a car.”

The former version makes it sound like the responsibility for the collision and deaths is the railroad’s – which it is not.

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my father worked for Northfolk southern and he says that people will never learn, they always have to beet the train.

they will never learn

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[tup]

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[#ditto][tup]

CANADIANPACIFIC2816

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An update -

Family Grieves Brothers Killed In Train-SUV Crash

GREENWOOD, Ind. – The family of two brothers killed in a collision between a train and SUV in Greenwood on Saturday spoke about their loss on Sunday.

Travis Findley and Jake Findley, ages nine and 12, were riding with a family friend when the crash happened, 6News’ Cheryl Jackson reported. Three other occupants, including another boy, were critically injured.

The boys were anxiously awaiting Super Bowl Sunday, according to Chuck Findley, their father.

“They were about an hour later than we expected and I was about ready to give them a call on their cell phone … At that time, Community South (hospital) called us and told us there’d been an accident,” Findley said.

When Findley and his family arrived at the hospital, they were told that the boys were dead.

“God took them both because one couldn’t live without the other. That’s just they way they were. One didn’t go without the other,” said Peggy Simpson, the boys’ aunt.

The crash happened on Stones Crossing Road, just west of Indiana 135 at a railroad crossing with no crossing gate or lights. The SUV’s other occupants were all listed in critical condition on Sunday.

“I would never put any blame on the driver. He’s a great friend of mine. I know accidents happen,” Findley said.

Findley said he will grieve one day at a time and that his sons would want him to enjoy Super Bowl Sunday.

“We knew the boys would want us to watch the game and celebrate with them because, in our opinion, they have the best seat in the house right now,” Findley said. “They’ll be right above Dolphin Stadium. God’s going to put them right there and we’re going to be cheering right with them.”

The boys will be buried on Wednesday.

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Where to start…

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The only good thing to come of this is their team won.

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Hey, at least he didn’t blame it on the train…

And even very good drivers can have a lapse of concentration now and then. One wonders if the driver actually saw the train, although a great big light would be difficult to miss in the middle of the night.

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That’s what I wonder…sometimes people have lapses. It is sad, but I think everyone is guilty of it.

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I agree with that. Sometimes there is that one crucial second that you pick the wrong decision because you don’t have time to think of the results.

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Boys’ deaths prompt push for railroad crossing warning

Johnson County - Hundreds gathered Wednesday in Johnson County for the funeral of two brothers killed in a train accident over the weekend. The crash prompted a push for better warnings at the railroad crossing where the boys died.

For more of the story, see http://www.wthr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6053796

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And no one will drive around the gates.

“Whenever they make something idiot proof,along comes another level of idiots.”

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they even admit that people drive thru with out stopping, Its not a matter of putting up signals for saftey that dont work. the real problem they dont even want to address is enforcement. start writting tickets for disobeying that stop sign . but then the cop has to ticket people he knows, his girlfriends, making people mad at him, its easier to just blame others.

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The camera shot of the track sure doesn’t look like it’s a high speed line. Out of curiorsity, does anyone know the train speed limit in that area? I saw an Indiana Rail Road coal train near there about two years ago and it was probably doing about 40 mph.

Of course, as others have said, it doesn’t take much speed for a train to nail some guy ignoring a stop sign…